Structures for managing wild birds
at The Feather varies from holding cages 12 inches square to out largest
flight pen some 12 feet wide by 120 feet long and with many sizes
in-between. We can fly anything from a hummingbird to
a great blue heron. Below is a gallery of some of our cages. All of the structures are soft
sided inside and predator proof on the outside. The birds have
access to all kinds of weather as they would in the wild. Most of
the cages have mouse proof liners, allowing the bird to hunt and catch
live food when we make it available. Releasable birds of prey must
learn or re-learn to fly and kill before they can be put back in the wild.

Red Tailed Hawk being released after flying
and killing in a 80 foot cage.

Pictured above is an 80 foot section of the
120 foot outdoor flight. It is impossible to take a complete photo of this
cage because of where it is built. It sets into the woods on
the north and on the south side is the 60 foot educational structure.

This photo shows the inside of one of the 40
foot cages. The total of this outdoor flight is 120 feet and it can be
divided into three forty foot cages with doors..

This 24 foot pen sets back in the woods and can be divided into three 8 x
10 when needed.

This is a 60 foot pen for the educational birds
at the Feather.

This pen is 28 x 10 x 10 and is

divided into two permanent pens.

Photo shows a 40 foot pen 12 wide can be
divided into three pens when needed.

Hummingbird house. Double entry.

All the photos below pertain to sandhill crane
rehabbing. Over one half of our location is dedicated to sandhills..

When the sandhill colts are ready to go outside they must first be able to
see the surrogate parent. That way they will imprint on what they are.

We have 5 indoor heated pens
for sandhills, in case they have to be over wintered for some reason. They
must always be able to see their own kind.

We
have a quarter acre uncovered for them when they are ready to leave on
their own.

Sandhills need water to probe in and also to take baths. Shown here
is Greywind and a colt.

This
is the top netted area when they are kept before they are flight capable.
It is also used to keep them apart in case of any fighting.

While the cranes are in the open
crane yard during the day they are housed in these pens at night,
safe from predators.

These
two colts were wintered over and self released with the help from their
surrogate parent, Greywind.

From the
day you get the young birds, this is what you pray for. They
self release from here day after day and you find them with the wild
cranes and one day they do not return. This is what we do as
rehabbers, you give them a second chance and the rest is up to the species
to survive........

Pirate will be 35 years old in
the spring of 2013. This is where he spends his winters at the
Feather.